“Historically, Apple (AAPL) has released a new iPhone roughly every 12 months. But that could change with the iPhone 6,” Patrick Seitz reports for Investor’s Business Daily.

“A source in the tech supply chain in China and Taiwan told Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White that the iPhone 6 is expected to launch in the second or third quarter of 2014,” Seitz reports. “If the iPhone 6 comes out at the start of that window, in April, it would be just seven months after the Sept. 20 debut of the iPhone 5S and 5C handsets. Since the first iPhone launched in June 2007, the quickest Apple has come out with a new iPhone has been 11 months.”

Seitz reports, “Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Chris Caso said Wednesday he expects the iPhone 6 to come out late in Q2 2014, which would put it nine months after the iPhone 5S and 5C… In a research report Thursday, White said the bigger screen iPhone would have a display approaching 5 inches, vs. 4 inches for the current iPhone 5 series.”

They never learn because they idiotically believe that Apple has some technological limitation that prevents a larger screen iPhone. Therefore, as soon as it becomes possible, Apple will release it to “catch up” with Samsung. They are morons.

Obviously, Apple can release a larger iPhone at any time. The current design is a choice. If Apple wants iPhone to have a larger screen, that will be a choice. If Apple wanted the iPhone that is being sold in April 2014 to have a larger screen, the current iPhone would already have a larger screen.

Apple is very systematic. The current iPhone 5s design, probably the most successful product launch (of any type) ever, will remain the latest iPhone for the full year. The NEXT iPhone will target current owners of iPhone 5, with expiring contracts, so it is likely to have a significantly different design. But that does not mean larger screen… 🙂

I see the bigger iPhone as adding to the iPhone lineup and not replacing the 5S. Not everybody, me included, wants a big screen phone. I like my 5S just fine. I don’t see it happening in the second quarter, but wouldn’t that be a bag of flaming dog shit on Samsung’s porch if it turned out to be true?

I used to think there was no good way Apple could do this without further complicating the device screen resolution situation with more Android-style fragmentation, which is a pain in the ass for developers. However, since the release of the iPad mini, I think there’s one good way.

The iPad mini is the same resolution as the original iPad, but at the pixel density of the original iPhone. The iPhone 5/5S/5C screen could be scaled up 1.23x, which would take the pixel density from 326ppi to 264ppi, the same as the Retina iPad. I wouldn’t be as sharp as the smaller iPhone, but it could still be considered “Retina”, and would be almost 5 inches diagonal, up from 4 inches.

Nothing would change, other than the size of the screen. Larger screen, larger text, larger icons… It would simultaneously satisfy people who wanted a larger screen, make older folks or those with low vision happy, and not create any problems for developers.

The other alternative is that they double the resolution in each direction again. Screens in the mid to high 4″ range with PPIs this high have already been announced by LG. The resolution would still be lower than a retina iPad, so an A8 could probably easily handle it.

You are talking nonsense
scale pixels 1.23X?
Are you taking the crack?
They are not going to create another display standard, particularly for a big boy phone (which don’t sell all that well on the android side)

I am going to speak slow as some of you are having trouble comprehending this

I’m not talking about scaling pixels. Read my post again. I’m talking about simply making the existing iPhone display 1.23x larger, but with the same resolution. The pixels would simply be the same size as iPad Retina pixels, so it’s not “another standard” at all.

How do you surmise that large-screen phones don’t sell well? Everywhere I look anymore, there are large(r)-screened Android devices like Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4. They’re everywhere.

“If the iPhone 6 comes out at the start of that window, in April, it would be just seven months after the Sept. 20 debut of the iPhone 5S and 5C handsets.”

And if the iPhone 6 were to be released near the end of that two-quarter, six-month guesstimate (September), then the time interval would be around twelve months, or the historical average based on the first sentence of the article.

Thanks, Brian White, for that brilliant piece of calendar interpretation and unfettered guessing (“…a display approaching 5 inches…”). An incredible waste of time and electrons.

That being said, the sooner Apple gets the iPhone family ironed out, the better. Even before the iPhone 6 reveals itself, It’s time for Apple to move past the A5 chip used in the 4S. The 4S is now the oddball with the 3:2 screen ratio; all of Apple’s other products are moving to a 16:9 ratio. … and let’s not forget that the 4S still sports the old Dock connector, which is lame. If Apple wants everyone to embrace the Lightning connector, it should get on with it instead of dragging its feet.

Nobody would object to an early spring introduction of an iPhone 5x, identical to the 5s except with ~4.8″ screen in the modern 16:9 ratio and an option for 128 GB memory.

Also, if Apple wants to accelerate its penetration into world markets faster than the old 4S has been, it could offer an 8GB version of the 5c made even more cost-competitive by ditching the facetime camera, using a smaller 3.5″ screen in the proper 16:9 ratio, and offering only one grown-up color to go with a more extensive line of colorful Apple cases. Use any extra iPhone chassis volume to add more battery capability, which is especially desirable for people who don’t have electrical outlets (or internet, for that matter) everywhere they go.

The current lineup of iPhones may be fine for mainstream users in the USA, but it’s far from offering comprehensive choices that more diverse people want.

Unless they can state the resolution and demonstrate that it’s a multiple of an existing iPhone’s screen resolution, I think they do not understand how Apple works, which is pretty damning for somebody who claims to be an analyst.

No – That sounds more like a fudge rather than an Apple solution. I don’t see them further diversifying the range of screen resolutions in that way and neither would I expect them to offer ‘near retina’ quality.

If a version of IOS came out that was resolution independent, then I would expect arbritary sizes of iPhone screens to follow. Until then, I reckon it’s going to continue being either the same resolution or double.

I don’t see how it’s a “fudge”. it would be exactly the same pixel density of the latest/greatest iPad, and I don’t think anybody calls that “near-Retina”. Lower density than small iPhone? Yes. Fudge? No.

if Apple chooses to retain its current 326 pixel / inch resolution and the current 16:9 ratio screen aspect ratio, then 1420 x 800 yields a 5″ screen.

Size and scaling is no big deal as long as Apple stays consistent on horizontal to vertical ratio. And although other manufacturers have exceeded pixel density to claim a crisper image, Apple seems content with the current pixel density as offering about the best bang for the buck. Given how addicted people are to their phones, however, it won’t be too long before Apple will bow to public demand for 600 pixel/inch resolution (to be more on par with printed materials).